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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is represented in Brazil with its 3 offices: the Office of Agricultural Affairs (OAA) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), both located at the United States Embassy in Brasília, and the Agricultural Trade Office (ATO), located at the United States Consulate General in São Paulo.
OAA is in charge, among other activities, of the dialogue between the governments of Brazil and the United States in matters related to agriculture and agricultural issues and of making their relations in this field closer.
APHIS is responsible for the procedures regarding the sanitary and phytosanitary inspection of animal and plants for export and import.
ATO's purpose is to assist U.S. companies that export food, beverages and other agro-industrial products to enter the Brazilian market. ATO also assists for free Brazilian companies looking for U.S. products. The office offers its infra-structure to ensure that the contact between exporting U.S. companies and Brazilian importers takes place quickly and is successful.
Among the services that are available for free through USDA's offices in Brazil are:
• Commodity reports: periodical supply and demand estimates of agricultural commodities, such as soy, citrus, coffee, cotton, tobacco, sugar, grains, seeds and beef, among others, with a wealth of data about the Brazilian market.
• Sector reports: brings important data about the various food distribution sectors in Brazil. USDA Brazil develops this report and makes it available to U.S. and Brazilian companies so that they are informed of the sector's needs and are able to follow closely the transformations of Brazil's food distribution industry.
• Product briefs: highlight the market segments in expansion in Brazil.
• Promotional opportunities: each year ATO makes available to the U.S. market the main FAIRS IN U.S related to the agriculture sector.
• Fairs in the U.S.: USDA promotes the most important agriculture fairs in the U.S. and, through its staff, assists international importers in those events. The aim is to help foreign companies find potential U.S. suppliers, thus stimulating commercial relations between the U.S. and other countries.
• Technical visits and training: USDA has tools to promote technical exchange between the U.S. and developing countries. When something that may be preventing the evolution of a given sector is identified, USDA may use one of its programs – for instance, the Cochran Fellowship – to deal with the question and arrange for a training program.
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